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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The People's Choice Awards Redux 2010

TSB has decided that its time for 2010 People's Choice Awards. No fellow bloggers, TSB is not looking to upstage Robin Young's second annual spinelalapalooza in the happiest place on earth. TSB wants to know what you, the people believe are the most innovative spine technologies of 2010. Or, has there been any innovation? In addition, we would like to announce new categories that have been added to this years ceremony. Before we start, this years entertainment will be the Fergie (love that girl), will i am, Taboo and apl.de.ap., aka The Black Eyed Peas. There'll be an open bar, only to be topped off with our first humanitarian award. Unlike the V Brothers, that like to drink Cristal, TSB will be serving Billecart -Salmon Rose. This year we will take this ceremony in a different direction, not only are we interested in knowing what is the best technology, we are also looking for the worst. A new category will be an award that goes out to the best CEO in the industry, and who is the worst to work for? Your opinion counts. Remember we're counting down the days to OTW's spinelalapalooza.

In retrospect, last years Spine Technology Awards lacked some real firepower. Mike Sherman was the only entertainment of the night. If anything, the party solidified whom Robin is indebted to. Who will be this years casualty, next year? Last year, Applied Spine Technologies received accolades for innovation, yet this year, it is a distant memory. Who will be this years Matt Songer, submitting numerous products that have been around for a few years? How desperate will some people get? Remember, just because you win, or are acknowledged, doesn't mean you'll survive. If anything, this could be the kiss of death. Will there even be a category for Dynamic Stabilization? Will we hear a dissertation on the current state of affairs? This is a golden opportunity for you, the people to determine what's new, what's true, and what can potentially make a difference in the clinical outcomes for the people. TSB wants to know who is going, who is showing, and who can care less?

Eh, it'll never be front page, and I'll likely get a lot of flack, but here it goes - Extend Cervical Revision System from Globus. Even though it may not be 'sexy', there is a clear benefit to the patient and cost.

Best CEO goes to Synthes (Michel Orsinger). For a large company, they still continue to develop (hey, Depuy - you can do it!!!) and a couple years after the N-Hance stinker, things have gotten much better from an in-house pipeline perspective. They price the market well, and do things above board WITHIN THE SPINE DIVISION.

Dear TSB,Last year's spine tech awards needed work and was not what I would have hoped for. We tried hard and, frankly, missed the mark. This year, i hope, it's much better albeit smaller and less ambitious. The main thing we want to do is give recognition to the inventors and engineers. And I think the suggestion to include engineers on the judging panel is right on. Appreciate the catch. I think we have some good judges this year. You let me know what you think. (Not that I really need to prompt you). The spine tech awards is a work in progress and I hope this year you all see an improvement and I hope you are impressed with the judges choices. And then, I hope, we get better next year and so on. The one constant at OTW or Pearldiver is that we keep trying to get better at what we do. For that, I do appreciate your comments and barbs. Best to all and ABSOLUTELY not anonymous. Robin Young

First of all, Robin Young is a class act and an icon and anyone questioning his integrity or motives with this award should be run out of town!

As for who should win this year's Spine Technology Award, there hasn't been any real innovation that has come out of the majors for years!!! Next-generation technologies seem to come from small, up-and-comers with the stomachs (and risk capital) to bring those technologies to market. There are some innovators out there, but here is the real question: Now that the majors have effectively shut down their internal R&D programs and in an environment where risk capital is impossible for small companies to raise, is it reasonable to expect much technical advancement in our space in the future?

First of all, if one looks at many of the one product companies there really isn't anything interesting. I-Spine? SI Bone? Paradigm? Centinel? DMT? Who's buying any of that? We all agree that Dynamic Stabilization is dead. Does anyone think that making a Polyethylene Terephthalate cord was going to work? This gets back to designing products looking for an indication. How many SI Fusions are there realistically? How many surgeons are fusing facet joints, let alone stinking cortical plugs and looking for a fusion? And don't give me what you think, give me the facts. Investors love thinking of themselves as market makers. Unfortunately, sometimes it works and then sometimes it doesn't. In this economy, it probably won't sustain itself. As for Robin being an icon, please learn how to use the word in its proper context. I like Robin, but he is not a saint or an angel, he is not a computer symbol. nor is he Foot Joy's premier golf shoe. Just for your education, the word Icon has its origins in Greece meaning likeness or image. So before you start sentencing everyone to death, keep it real, not only is he getting free publicity, we're just having fun.

If Maryellen Keenan is a judge as listed in the posting to which I am replying then I have doubts about the integrity of what is being judged. According to the New York Post, July 12, 2013, Maryellen Keenan was somehow involved in a "kickback" matter with the former CEO of Hospital of Specialized Surgery (HSS), whom that CEO has pled guilty and set to be sentenced later this year (2013).

Innovation is worthless if the product has no "value" on a macro economic level. Unfortunately, pay for play is increasingly a thing of the past. Including someone who can speak specifically to the ROI, especially on the reimbursement side (*ahem* artifical lumbar discs *ahem*), is incredibly smart.

Perhaps the most compeling judge is Dr. Dilip Sengupta. Dartmouth-Hitchcock has led the way in efforts to set up a vascular registry to track outcomes, imagine the applications in spine....

Dr Sengupta once said to me that after years of fellowships it was time for him to make some money like his attendings had for years. Enter David Paul and Dr Sengupta is bought and paid for. Stock Options, Consultancy, Science Advisory Board....best bet is he'll be punching a Globus ticket for innovation

Just noticed that Wenzel Spine (obviously surgeon owned and will be looking for a buyer) got approved for a new device. Not a rep/distributor for the product but it seems to add extra possibilities to old technology. I'd love to hear what others have to say about it. Will Zimmer suffer from this new approval?

Me thinks Robin Young and his band of renowned will be punching the SiNful ticket for emerging technology of the year for Amedica. Someone has to put up the volume for the 300 or so people involved with this company.

LDR ROI- C is a POORLY designed implant. Hammering in a "Barbed" anchor into a vertebral body is insanity. This is a gimmick . Wait until all the revisons start rolling in and all the hemi corpectomies need to be done. The lawyers are going to have a field day with this one.

Interesting concept, but rather than rebuttal a device with no substance 5:26, what about comparing it to a predicate device (i.e Vu a∙Pod- Integra, ect)? I have no affiliation with either device - Just sayin. SS“People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer.” Andrew Smith

Who is "hammering" in the plating system in the ROI-C case? It is about 3 of the lightest taps I have ever seen. And it is cancellous bone it goes into anyway. Be careful what you wish for with this product, I'm telling ya!

10:32I assume you are refering to the staples as "plates" in the ROI-C. Also, being a "goof ball", it doesn't matter if it is locked or not. What happens when you get a little subsidence, which you will? Heck, screws sometimes loosen and they are in cortical bone. Are you saying there is no movement of the staples/plate? Not a hater, just trying to make sense of why this is the second coming of jc. And by the way, good luck coding for a plate.

Let's not spend time belittling ourselves, an intelligent conversation discussing pro's and con's of these devices benefits everyone whether you like the product or not. Eat, Love and Pray, and not necessarily in that order.

They need to be aquired! Aspen ISP has legs, why is everybody coming out with one. Even the biggest critics. Second gen in the works from what I hear. Wonder if it's a different color, or if it really is better.

Not Revolutionary, but certainly a fine evolution of interspinous process devices is the OsteoMed ISD. And, it is being introduced just as Lanx has a high percentage of their distribution ready to jump as a result of their distribution strategy. Can Lance Denardin save them?

It wouldn't surprise me if they were on the block. Aspen is all they have worth anything.

Best CEO - Orthofix, in there strange way, is sure making waves - it's certainly not Blackstone anymore.

Worst company- Zimmer Spine could do more to screw up what should be a great company, but it would really take an effort.

@5:26 am, not sure how i even found this blog or what it pertains to, but in ref. To LDR ROI-C comment. I have the implant from c5-6 fusion, and one of the plates cracked in half @ 5 months post op, 85% fused. Horrid pain from the cracked plate, still waiting for surgeons decision. Why did u think the product was bad in the first place?